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FREDRIK NOREN
450 MX / 8TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / TILLS
>> After a rough Supercross season, everyone’s favorite Swede Fredrik Noren made the jump back up to the 450 for the outdoors. He has had great successes on a 450 outdoors so he was more than happy to be back on the bigger ma- chine. Leading up to Southwick, he has been just a tick off where he would like to be. He has failed to finish within the top ten but has remained consistent not finishing outside of the top fifteen. He always seems to find his groove during the back half of the season and Southwick marked the beginning of the second half so it was about time for him to start working for that top ten.
Noren struggled a bit in qualifying practice only able to come away with the twen- tieth fastest lap time. He went back and made the proper adjustments to come out swinging and ready to race.
Noren drilled a great start in the opening moto of the day but made a bobble early that pushed him back to fifth by the end of the opening lap. Webb bumped him back to sixth the following lap and Noren would hold strong there for the next handful of laps. Then near the halfway point he got pressure from Seely and Musquin who would both maneuver around him pushing him to eighth. Noren would not move back any further and would hold it down the rest of the day to finish a season best eighth place in the moto.
Noren could not repeat his great start from the first moto as he would go down in the first turn. He rounded lap one in thirty-second place and put on a serious charge. He sliced and diced his way through the pack showing his speed and endurance. He would cross the stripe in an impressive come from behind tenth place finish. His 8-10 finishes were good enough to earn him eighth overall his best finish of the year. He’ll look to keep the momentum going in two weeks at Millville.
28 GRITMOTO • JULY 9, 2017